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Lucas Simons

A brainstorm with our CEO and founder is like entering a tornado of ideas. His book Changing the Food Game is an example of how these ideas can become reality, create momentum and drive lasting change. To get an idea of how Lucas is translating his ideas into sustainable sector transformations, his TedX talk can be seen here. It is this kind of visionary leadership that has driven the strategies and successes of many of our flagship projects.

CocoaAction: read about how the third phase of market transformation can be organized.Organic Cotton Accelerator: see how the combination of facilitation, strategy and technical knowledge can drive momentum and change.Service Delivery Models: find out how business case thinking and economic modelling can ignite innovation.

Lucas is always seeking sustainability solutions in the market. Previously, Lucas was the first director of UTZ CERTIFIED (2002-2008) – a leading global certification and sustainability standard organization for sustainable coffee, cocoa and tea. Besides NewForesight, he founded SCOPEinsight, which is a farmer organization assessment company bridging the gap between professional farmer organizations, markets and sources of finance. He also established Explorement which invests in social entrepreneurs who dream big, think global and act local. At present, he is also dedicating his time to launching ThrivingCoalitions.

His sustainability efforts do not go unnoticed. In 2011, he was honored as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for his commitment and accomplishments in the field of sustainable trade, agriculture and rural development. In 2013, he became an Ashoka Fellow for his pioneering role as a social entrepreneur and a systemic change maker. And in February 2015, Lucas was announced as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) – an initiative of the Clinton Foundation which convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

Lucas holds an MSc in Environmental Hygiene from Wageningen University and an MBA with merit from Tias-Nimbas Graduate School of Management.

Contact Tessa if you would like to invite Lucas to inspire your organization, your company or your students. He loves to teach at (business) universities or stir up a board room.

Wouter-Jan Schouten

Our seasoned senior advisor Wouter-Jan has over 20 years of experience in management consulting at The Boston Consulting Group. He has worked with many of Europe’s leading companies in the consumer products, agro and food industries across Europe, Asia and Africa. He also supported the top team of the Dutch Agro-Food sector in setting the pre-competitive sector agenda in 2011. Wouter-Jan holds an MSc in Business Administration from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Combining his network and expertise with NewForesight thinking has already proved to be a winning combination. This is exemplified in the “New Horizons for the Transitioning of our Food System” report which has been initiated by Wouter-Jan and jointly prepared by teams from NewForesight, Commonland, and The Boston Consulting Group. The report argues that the pressing challenges facing our food system can be translated into opportunities if we change our prevailing logic and adopt a holistic approach towards the food transition . The report gives us a clear mandate to engage (new) clients in our work.

Contact Wouter-Jan if you would like to know more about the report From Challenge to Opportunity, and how it could help you contribute to the global food transition.

Joost Gorter

If you are looking for that ‘’oh, wow, never thought of it that way’’ moment, it is time to talk to our senior consultant Joost. He is our in-house specialist for finding new perspectives and alternative routes that can give you the business edge you were aiming for.

Previously, Joost has worked for the World Bank, GIZ, USAID, the United Nations and the Dutch Government, amongst others; in locations including Washington DC, China, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Joost obtained an MA with honors in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on a Fulbright Scholarship, and holds an MA in History from the University of Amsterdam. His varied background has shaped his unique perspective and charming wit that has given many of our clients the inspiration they need to take their sustainability strategy to the next level.

Joost has been involved in the initial phase of several sustainable market transformations, principally in agri-commodity sectors such as coffee, cocoa and cotton. He has helped structure sector-wide coalitions that have transformed the entire sector towards more sustainable practices, and has continued to work with these coalitions to design strategies that can scale-up their potential. Joost supported the Sustainable Coffee Program as interim manager throughout its development phase, and did so again after its merger with the 4C Association to form the Global Coffee Platform. He also managed the start-up phase of CocoaAction with the World Cocoa Foundation, as well as for the Organic Cotton Accelerator with a group of companies and foundations.

For instant inspiration, read this publication that Joost has contributed to on how to drive a sector transformation.

Contact Joost if you are looking for ideas and somebody who can translate your sustainability ideas into action.

William Saab

Will is our analytical mastermind. The insightful models he creates lay the groundwork for winning sustainability strategies and services. As a consultant at NewForesight, he leads our work in economic and quantitative analysis, which includes building dynamic models to measure the agronomic and/or economic impact at farm, company, and sector level; and statistical analysis of impact data. Will uses the insights from these models to translate sustainability strategies into long-term roadmaps and practical interventions.

For IDH’s Service Delivery Models study, Will analyzed the economic sustainability and impact of sustainability programs on the farm, service provider and investor levels across companies in the cocoa, coffee, and spices sectors in different geographies.

In CocoaAction, his Farmer Economic Model helped cocoa sector stakeholders to understand the long-term effect of their interventions on the farmer business case, which has played an important part in building momentum for sustainability in the cocoa industry.

Will’s background as a strategy consultant with Booz & Company gives him a solid base upon which to build sustainability solutions for NewForesight. Previously, he was based in Lebanon and the Netherlands, where he supported both public (incl. education, healthcare, labor policy) and private (incl. FMCG, finance, oil & gas) clients. Will has an MA with honors in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and an MA with first class honors in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Hilde van Duijn

Our consultant Hilde knows how to construct a solid base for any project to succeed. Building on seven years of experience with the engineering and project management consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV, she is skilled in designing both the strategic foundations of sustainability projects as well as the tools for implementation. Hilde holds a MSc in System Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management from the Technical University in Delft.

Her visionary and practical thinking was put into practice with her work for the Global Coffee Platform, where she refined their strategy towards a more sustainable sector, and translated this into a value proposition for members. In the organic cotton sector, Hilde also acted as a catalyst for change through her contribution to the strategy for the Organic Cotton Accelerator, and the rolling out of interventions to increase transparency and traceabilityin the sector. For a better understanding of how traceability can contribute to integrity and sector sustainability, you can read her article on the subject.

Contact Hilde if you want to know how you can come to a robust strategy and impactful tools for your sustainability objectives.

Bart Vollaard

Our in-house biologist Bart knows how to balance different needs and interests, and how to get stakeholders aligned on a strategy or program. As a NewForesight consultant, he has worked on many of our sector changing projects in coffee, cocoa, cotton and sugarcane.

Bart has mostly worked on strategy and program design, governance and business model development for a number of multi-stakeholder initiatives and standards such as CocoaAction, the 4C Association, Bonsucro, and the Indonesian Cocoa Sustainability Partnership. Currently, as Program Director for the Organic Cotton Accelerator, he drives the OCA farm-level interventions and seeds program in India, which is focused on improving the business case for organic cotton farmers. Read more about this here.

The delivery of the future strategy of the 4C Association, which led to the birth of the Global Coffee Platform, marked a new step forward for sustainability thinking in the coffee sector. In this visionary project, Bart’s practical work in standards and accreditation, as well as M&E systems and results frameworks, has played a crucial role in contributing towards tackling the tough sustainability challenges in this sector.

Bart holds an MSc with honors in Natural Resources Management and a BA with honors in Biology.

Contact Bart if you wish to learn more about practical solutions on the road to sustainability, or if you would like to learn about seeds and cotton farmers – especially with regards to creating farmer opportunities.

Guus ter Haar

Guus’ work revolves around positive impact. Through holistic strategies, shared goals and convincing communication, he manages to encourage even the sceptics to join him. He also knows how to drive projects and people towards having real world impact, evidenced by his leading role in founding the Green Protein Alliance and his work with the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative.

With both GPA and the work for GSSI, Guus enabled NewForesight to add more game-changing sustainability strategies to its track record; an actionable strategy and business case to engage retail and food service in food sustainability, as well as driving structural change in seafood, a sector which supports approximately 12% of the world’s population.

At NewForesight, Guus also leads our (strategic) communications work, building on his previous experience as a communication strategy consultant at Schuttelaar & Partners. He is the lead author of two chapters in an upcoming Springer publication on natural resource management, which lays out NewForesight’s vision on the future of voluntary sustainability standards. Guus was named a Dutch Young Sustainability Leader and holds an MSc in Science & Business Management as well as a BSc in Biology.

Contact Guus if you want to know how to turn your vision of sustainability into business value through comprehensive strategies, strong value propositions, and organizational models to support implementation.

Wouter van Monsjou

When in need of a quantitative sustainability analysis; get in touch with Wouter. Wouter is Associate Consultant at NewForesight and his quantitative mind and skillset are impressive. The insights derived from his statistical and sensitivity analyses have helped to develop sustainability strategies and business models for many of our clients who operate in agro-commodity supply chains.

Wouter has played an important part in designing IDH’s Service Delivery Model methodologywhich is increasingly gaining recognition and traction. His analysis of the long-term effects of interventions targeted at improving the farmer business case has provided an important knowledge base for designing service improvements that will positively impact hundreds of thousands of farmers’ worldwide. An example of a case report can be found here.

Additionally, for the Organic Cotton Accelerator, Wouter has worked on economic modelingin order to contribute towards a better understanding of the business case of the farmer, and to help design interventions that will improve it.

Wouter holds an MSc in Business Administration from the University of Amsterdam.

Renée Engelsman

Renée is dedicated to confronting the bigger stories behind social problems. An entrepreneur at heart, she dares to think big and she is not afraid to shake up the status quo. With her holistic, lateral thinking combined with a deep sense of cross-cultural understanding, she is a skilled facilitator who finds synergies within the most diverse of groups. She knows how to get the best out of everybody, and she uses her creativity to drive innovative processes and solutions.

At NewForesight, Renée works on one of our most forward looking projects in the cocoa industry. Her solid, complex analyses to find the criteria that impacts investments on farmers in the cocoa industry is crucial to achieving the goal of lifting thousands of farmers out of poverty. She also plays a vital role in several Service Delivery Model cases where she applies her innovative thinking to help revolutionize the way services are delivered to smallholder farmers across different sectors.

Prior to NewForesight, Renée worked for three years as a Strategy and Transformation Consultant at Capgemini where she worked on projects using technology to facilitate systemic solutions for sustainability. She has a degree in European Law (LLM) and an MSc in Innovation Management from the University of Utrecht.

Laurens Speelman

As one of the select few to be able to list ‘Complexity’ as one of his degrees, Laurens quickly grasps complex issues, is an expert in big data analytics, and has a knack for designing and programming computer simulations.

Laurens has developed highly data-driven solutions with local relevance. He does this by working together with stakeholders who have diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, ranging from local fishermen and farmers to professors, ministers, and managers. He has broad as well as in-depth methodological knowledge and can quickly identify and implement appropriate analytical methods to develop high-quality and innovative solutions to complex sustainability challenges.

Using this affinity for complexity and an analytical mindset, Laurens is in the core of NewForesight’s analytical and modelling work, spending most days on the Service Delivery Model that we do in support of our partner IDH.

Laurens holds a PhD degree in Engineering and the Environment from the University of Southampton, and MSc degrees in Complexity Science (University of Southampton) and Environmental Science (Wageningen University). At Wageningen University and Research, he worked with a model for dynamic water resources and crop production, which culminated in a journal publication on the effects of adaptation options on crop production and water resources in river basins in India. Before coming to NewForesight, Laurens worked as a strategy consultant at Spring Associates in Amsterdam and worked in international development in Tanzania and in The Netherlands.